Sony reportedly preparing to buy Toshiba's image sensor business

Sony is reportedly in late-stage discussions with Toshiba to acquire its image sensor business. The deal, valued at around $165 million, could be announced as soon as this week according to sources familiar with the matter as reported by Bloomberg and others.

The purchase would further cement Sony’s dominance in the industry. Last year alone, the Japanese electronics giant accounted for nearly 40 percent of the $8.7 billion CMOS image sensor business. Its next biggest rival, Techno Systems Research, controlled just 16 percent of the market.

The industry is expected to grow to $12 billion annually by 2019, led by the continued mobile revolution.

Toshiba spokesperson Tatsuro Oishi told the publication over the weekend that nothing had been decided yet. Sony declined to comment on the matter.

Sony has struggled mightily over the past several years, a realization that has forced some pretty drastic strategic changes in recent memory. Its image sensor business, meanwhile, has performed so well that the company recently announced plans to spin it off in order to make lesser-performing divisions more accountable for their own performance.

For Toshiba, the sale would be yet another opportunity to raise cash following the announcement of a $1.3 billion accounting scandal over the summer. Company chairman Masashi Muromachi stepped in as interim CEO to replace Hisao Tanaka at that time, immediately setting to work on a major restructuring effort to raise cash.

A more efficient, easier and cheaper way to raise cash is to show your staff the door. It's proved very successful in the past and will continue to do so. Cook the books and you are bound to be caught out.